Thoughts on Music, Art, Film, and Technology as they relate to the message of Jesus.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Recommended Listening – The Album Leaf
You could probably lump The Album Leaf in with every other post-rock band to come out of the 1999-2004 explosion of the genre. However, I would say that they are one of the better acts. They are not orchestrated to the point of potential boredom like Godspeed! You Black Emperor. They are not thunderous and stomach-rattling like Mogwai. Their music is beautiful and ambient and takes cues from Sigur Ros and Explosions in the Sky, but adds several personal elements to create music that is peaceful, but keeps your attention.
The Album Leaf is the brainchild of Jimmy LaValle. On his first several albums, he recorded each instrument himself and had a live band that he toured with to perform the material. The last two records (which are very good) are called In a Safe Place and Into the Blue Again. Both are available from Sub Pop Records. He just started recording a new album that will be out at the end of 2009. The new album will be the first to feature a full band performing their own instruments, rather than LaValle playing himself.
As Cities Burn has developed a reputation for reinventing themselves. They have gone through line-up changes, genre changes, and label changes… all in the course of three albums. On their first album (2005’s Son, I Loved You at Your Darkest), the band slipped into anonymity among every other Christian hardcore band that constantly regurgitates the same formulas. At that point, they were fronted by the yelps and screams of T.J. Bonnette.
However, that record produced one gem. “The Widow”, which was written and performed by T.J.’s brother, Cody Bonnette, struck a beautiful chord among the clanging mediocrity of the other songs. It is, in my opinion, one of the best songs ever written about a dysfunctional relationship with a father. The beauty and honesty of this song sets the stage for everything that As Cities Burn was to become.
The band’s next record, Come Now Sleep, was their first step in the right direction. Cody became the lead singer and drove the group into a sound that successfully mixed their hard-rock edge with the ambience and peacefulness of post-rock bands like Sigur Ros, and The Album Leaf. However, like many other Christian/alternative records that have come out in the last few years, Come Now Sleep, was fettered by a need to fit into a “sound” (call it the “Tooth & Nail Records sound”) and fell short of the band’s full potential. During the recording process, Cody’s vocals were layered with a suffocating amount of distortion and effects that hid his unrefined passion. Now, two years after Come Now Sleep was released, the band had to struggle to make a musical transition while still holding on to their previous fan base.
Hell or High Water is the record that many As Cities Burn followers have been waiting for them to make. Starting from the beginning, the album is a relentless assault of creativity, lyrical brilliance, and raw energy. “84’ Sheepdog” kicks off the record with a grungy synthesizer lead and Cody belting out “They fixed your brain when you were young!” From that point, the record rarely lets up intensity.
“Errand Rum” is an interesting jam that reaches its climax with trumpets pounding out a melody over gang vocals. I interpret the song to be, at least partially, about Cody’s distaste for playing the aforementioned song, “The Widow” because he reconciled his relationship with his dad after the song was released. “No I won’t play that song, to hear you singing it back. It is all wrong”.
“Made Too Pretty” is probably the best song on the album. Its powerful lyrics paint an intense picture of the struggle for humans to control their own situations. “We bear your name, and you let us say you are something that you're not. As if you were made after we saw our own faces, and knew we were gods enough. I think we were made too pretty.” A pulsing bass line carries the song from its quiet beginning to its powerful conclusion. All the while, the guitar continues to provide a common thread between the As Cities Burn of the past and the As Cities Burn of the present. Cody has a very distinct style that utilizes the entire neck of the guitar and relies heavily on hammer-ons and counter-melody.
Other high points of the album include “Petty”, which is a self-aware jab at Cody’s own pride (and, upon interpretation, all of our own pride) “You're gonna be dethroned. You're gonna shed your pride. It keeps growing” and “Pirate Blues”.
“Pirate Blues” has the feel of sea chantey. He begins the track in story-telling mode: “Before you, your mom and dad used to smoke in the Texas sun. They were young once too.” As the story unfolds, he begins into an observation of the Christian views on mortality. In the final moments, he belts out “Oh, I want to find out I’m wrong and every road leads us home.”
Post-Modern Christians, like myself (and I suspect Cody) constantly battle with the modern agnostic argument that “every religion is basically the same, isn’t it?” If you believe that the bible is wholly true (which I do), it is impossible to take that position. (John 14:6 says "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”) However, there is a longing in a lot of our hearts to empathize with the billions of believers of other faiths. I feel like the lyrics of this song sum up a thought that I have on a regular basis. I would love to find out that I’m wrong and that all basically good people can make it to heaven.
The main weak point of the record is the final track, “Capo”. Robert Chisholm from Jonezetta sings the on the chorus. I have read a lot of internet speculation that the song was thrown together at the last minute, possibly by the record label. This wouldn’t surprise me, as it lacks passion, lyrical insight, or any sign of being written by As Cities Burn.
All in all, this record is a wonderful piece of passionate art. The band found their stride and dipped into their internal creativity. I can officially say that Tooth & Nail Records now has two bands that I like.
